Polygraph for customs: the government has determined the procedure for checking candidates for senior positions
2 April 2025 10:56
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a procedure for conducting psychophysiological examinations of customs officials and candidates for civil service positions in the customs authorities using a polygraph. This was announced by the government’s representative in parliament, Taras Melnychuk, reports
The basic principles of conducting, directions and conditions for organizing a psychophysiological survey of customs officials and candidates for civil service positions in the customs authorities using a polygraph, the conditions for storing and using the results of such a survey, and the procedure for accessing the information contained therein are defined.
Not only polygraph will help reform customs
In September last year, the Verkhovna Rada approved the draft law No. 6490-d on the customs reboot. The law provides for a change in the procedure for competitive selection of the head of the State Customs Service. From now on, the chief customs officer will be selected by a six-member competition commission.
The newly elected head of the Customs will have broader personnel powers. In particular, he will be able to appoint his deputies without a mandatory competition, and will have the right to appoint heads of regional customs offices and their deputies independently, without the approval of anyone else.
One of the stages in the selection of candidates for customs positions will be a polygraph test.
This procedure is not new to Ukraine
The first attempt to conduct a massive lie detector test was made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine back in 2015 during the re-certification of former police officers to join the ranks of the then newly created National Police.
However, the recertification guidelines then stated that law enforcement officers would only be subjected to a polygraph test if they agreed to it. As a result, many simply did not agree to take the lie detector.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, which was founded the same year, also started using polygraphs. There was even a mention of the mandatory polygraph in the draft law on the NABU, but it disappeared at the final stage of its adoption by the Verkhovna Rada. Nevertheless, from the very beginning, the Bureau developed internal instructions and orders according to which every employee can take a polygraph test to “keep the mark” of the most transparent law enforcement agency.
What does the law say about polygraph testing?
Polygraph examinations do not contradict or violate the current legislation of Ukraine. Lawyer Vitaliia Onachyshych points this out. The constitutional rights of citizens are not violated either, as the tests are carried out only with their written consent.
For example, Art. 50 of the Law “On the National Police” of 02.07.2015 No. 580-VIII regulates the use of a polygraph during the examination of a candidate for police service.
“Citizens of Ukraine who have expressed a desire to join the police shall, with their consent, be subjected to a polygraph test,” the document states.
The use of polygraphs during hiring and corporate audits is not specifically regulated by legal acts. However, this procedure is subject to general legal principles – the use of a polygraph is possible only with the consent of the person being interviewed and should not interfere with his or her privacy or encroach on his or her other rights and freedoms.
Thus, the current regulatory framework provides for the following conditions: obtaining the interviewee’s written consent to use a polygraph; using only certified devices; conducting an interview and interpreting its results only by an employee who has been trained and authorized to do so.
