A lie detector made by the company Konkordia being tested on a company employee.
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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Lie Detectors in the Moscow City Duma
// FSB Wants to Codify Use of Lie Detector Tests
Yesterday the Moscow City Duma created a committee charged with preparing legislation to legalize the use of lie detectors (polygraph tests) for civilian purposes in Russia. Human rights advocates, however, fear that the law will result in increased joblessness and will mainly translate into revenues for the Federal Security Service (FSB) for training specialists to use polygraphs.
Currently, only the FSB, the Internal Ministry, and other branches of the armed forces are allowed to use lie detectors. However, Yury Kholodny, a professor of criminal science at the FSB Academy, notes that banks and large financial organizations also use lie detectors to assist in matters such as the hiring of personnel. According to Mr. Kholodny, a total of 40,000-50,000 lie detector tests are administered for all purposes in Russia every year.
The use of polygraph tests in human resources is currently not supported by the law, and it can actually be challenged in court if a candidate is refused a job on the basis of the results of a lie detector test. "We need to set down in the Labor Code the possibility of using polygraph tests," said Moscow city administrator Gennady Ponomarev.
The State Duma is also preparing a similar bill in cooperation with the FSB. That legislation, which is expected to be finished in March, will specify organizations in which the use of a polygraph test in the hiring process is obligatory.
Rights advocates and experts such as Institute of Human Rights director Valentin Gefter believe that the law will seriously violate human rights by placing job candidates at the mercy of an army of polygraph experts whose interest will be primarily in the results of the test, not in the fitness of the individual for the work in question. Mr. Gefter and his colleagues also believe that the FSB – which offers diplomas for polygraph experts - stands to benefit the most from the proposed legislation. According to Mr. Kholodny, training for a polygraph expert costs 90,000-100,000 rubles per year, while a one-time course in using a polygraph to screen job candidates costs an average of $100.
Ivan Buranov
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 20, 2007
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