NCJ Number
220561
Journal
Polygraph Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: 2007 Pages: 150-156
Date Published
2007
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper presents an historical perspective of polygraph examinations in Poland.
Abstract
The first application of the polygraph in a criminal case in Poland took place in 1963 during the course of a murder inquiry. Since that case, polygraph examinations have been used occasionally in criminal investigations. At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, polygraph examinations were carried out in criminal cases at the Department of Criminalistics at the Silesian University. During this period, about 100 persons were examined each year at the University, at the request of prosecutors, the police, or courts. People who carried out the first polygraph examination were self-trained practitioners. To this day, no specialist training exists in Poland for examiners and experts on polygraph testing, and there are no more than 20 examiners. In the mid-1990s, the Association of Polish Polygraph Examiners was founded, with the number members about 30. Polygraph examinations are used in criminal investigations, preemployment investigations, and control checks or screening. The term “polygraph” or “polygraph examination” is not explicitly used in any legal act in Poland. In 2003, an amendment to the Code of Penal Procedure, unambiguously tipped the scales in favor of the acceptability of polygraph examinations in criminal investigations. This put an end to the debate which had been raging as long as there was no explicit legal basis for polygraph examination. There are two identified problems concerning polygraph examinations in Poland. The first is the decline of scientific experimental research, as well as field research and analysis of field practices. The second is that there is no uniform system implemented in Poland regarding the training of polygraph examiners or the granting of licensure and there are no clear requirements for the legal regulation of examiners. References