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Lie detectors—the whole truth?

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Published on: 22 July 2013

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Table of contents

Original news
What is the background to this proposal?
What are the challenges and limitations of the proposed use of polygraph tests?
Are there concerns that data could be misused or wrongly interpreted?
Could an ex-offender be charged or sanctioned for ‘failing’ a lie detector test?
Will the monitoring be court-ordered or is this at the discretion of the police or probation service?
Could a convicted offender challenge the use of polygraphs? How does the continued monitoring sit with civil liberties?
What should lawyers be alert to and how should they advise their clients?

Article summary

Crime analysis: What are the potential problems with compulsory lie detector tests? Claire Hegarty of Kingsley Napley comments on proposals to introduce a new scheme under which sex offenders could be subject to lie detector tests when freed on licence.

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