The Constitutional Court of Albania has removed the requirement that police officers undergoing their own vetting process be subject to a mandatory polygraph test (lie detector). The test will remain in force for those applying to work for the National Bureau of Investigation (BKH), the so-called “Albanian FBI”.
On March 23, the Albanian Helsinki Committee asked the Constitutional Court to remove the polygraph test requirement for admissions to the State Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Albanian Guard, and the Internal Affairs and Complaints Service (SHÇBA).
They filed a lawsuit calling the test requirement “unconstitutional” as, according to them, it violates human rights.
The Helsinki Committee has expressed reservations about the Court’s recent decision to remove the mandatory requirements for the police, but keep it in place for the BKH. According to the executive director of the Albanian Helsinki Committee, Erida Skëndaj, the decision reveals that the Constitutional Court is following two different standards and the arguments it presents are confusing.
Skëndaj stated that the decision was taken unanimously and without debate by the members of the Constitutional Court.
The head of the Albanian Media Council (KSHM) also pointed out that the Court’s decision is not coherent.
The National Bureau of Investigation is a specialized structure of the Judicial Police, working with the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK), which investigates crimes by senior officials and organized crime.
The US government has donated 50 polygraphs to the Albanian government.
The polygraph, often portrayed as a mind-reading machine, has been used to gather data in criminal investigation, employment screening, but there is no evidence about how various psychological conditions affect the physiological responses that the polygraph measures.
