Thesis:

The Use of Lie Detectors in Criminal Courts and Evaluation of Their Effectiveness

The importance of proving criminal claims has led many legal systems in the world to move beyond traditional evidence and turn to new evidence in order to develop evidence to prove claims. Among these, polygraph (lie detector) is one of the evidences that has gained significant importance in recent years and several countries have introduced it into their legal systems and sometimes use it to evaluate the confession of the accused, the statements made by the plaintiffs and witnesses. This article examines the use of lie detectors in criminal courts and evaluates their effectiveness using a descriptive-analytical method. It concludes that legal systems have opposed them under the pretext of protecting the rights of the accused and have considered their use to be in conflict with some rights and the principles justifying those rights. Their claim is that polygraphy conflicts with the accused’s right to remain silent, his inherent dignity, and his psychological privacy. However, first of all, polygraphy is subject to the defendant’s consent and the individual will never be forced to undergo this test. Expressing this consent will eliminate the objection of ignoring the defendant’s right to remain silent and interfering with his psychological privacy. On the other hand, it is not always possible to imagine a negative function for polygraphy towards the accused. Polygraphy has a dual nature; while it can be a way to convict the accused, it may also be a way to prove his innocence. Also, the need to protect the rights of society and victims of crime and the preference of public interests over the private interests of individuals requires that the most important goal of the criminal justice process, which is the establishment of justice, be achieved by standardizing polygraphy as a sound scientific evidence and implementing it by experts. Keywords: lie detectors, court, criminal law.

Keywords: lie detectors, court, criminal law