The polygraph in the Spanish judicial field

For a long time, there has been a lot of controversy regarding whether or not the use of the polygraph is legal. In most of the world, the use of this test has no real validity. This includes Spain, since, in criminal terms, this evidence is not admitted by any court, which is why the polygraph in the Spanish judicial field is something that must be taken into account.

However, this does not mean that these tests are not useful and it is that with a polygraph test you can help in different ways to solve a case. In this article we are going to touch a little more on this issue of the legality of polygraph tests in Spain.

Is the use of polygraph legal in Spain?

The issue of the legality of the use of polygraph testing is highly contested. However, it is important to note that there is no regulation in charge of regulating this issue in the country.

Unfortunately, although it is not regulated, today, polygraph results have no legal validity. Although this has more to do with custom than actual usage, it is still a problem.

While presenting polygraph evidence may not have a bearing on the judge’s decision, it may be useful if justice is sought. And it is through this that the investigation can be conducted to find the relevant evidence for the case.

Why is a polygraph test not taken as truthful?

The fact that the results obtained from a polygraph test cannot be used as evidence in a trial is due to the fact that it cannot be cross-checked by other professionals. That is to say, even when the evidence is damning, as long as it is not supported by other evidence, the results have no legal validity.
Of course, this is not something new, but has been going on for a long time in this way. However, this is not to say that it cannot yield some vital research results.

In fact, in the police and investigative field, the use of polygraphs is quite common. For example, intelligence agencies, such as CNI, can use this in order to direct an investigation or to confirm a hypothesis.

However, despite being used for this purpose, the truth is that legally, it has no validity within the legal system. Of course, everything will also depend on the type of court in which the evidence is presented. For example, in the criminal field it is normal that it is not accepted, however, it may be better received in other courts.

It is very important to mention that, in these cases, it is the judge who has the final decision and decides whether to accept this as evidence or not. However, this will depend on the type of judge and the type of legal action being taken at the time.

Could the evidence from a polygraph evaluation be valid?

It is difficult to determine whether in the future this type of evidence could begin to gain validity in the legal system. However, it is important to mention that these polygraph systems are becoming more advanced and the results they provide are more accurate.

In this sense, it is likely that at some point they could come to be considered as valid evidence. Unfortunately, these are all speculations and we will have to wait to find out whether or not they can be considered legal.

In any case, polygraph tests are being used more and more, both in the legal sector and in others such as the business sector, so their use has been spreading.