Mandatory polygraph testing of police officers in connection with their work is not necessary or desirable in a democratic society, and may even be unethical and lead to false (self-)accusations and abuses when using the results.
This is how the Council of the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information responded to the department Danilo Saranovic who in October last year asked them for their opinion on harmonizing the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs with the Law on Personal Data Protection.
The Ministry of Interior has proposed a bill requiring all police officers who are required to undergo a polygraph test to undergo the test in the circumstances of their work and the performance of a specific police job to undergo the test, and has also stipulated that refusing to do so and giving an answer constitutes a violation of their work obligations. The Agency's Council has previously emphasized that the processing of personal data must be in accordance with the principles prescribed by the Law on the Protection of Personal Data, i.e. the principle of legality and necessity, limited and proportionate to the purpose of the processing, which must not infringe on the privacy of the respondents more than is necessary.
"This is stated because polygraph testing is not a necessary and necessary measure in a democratic society, because such data processing represents a disproportionately invasive measure, which is contrary to the principles of proportionality and transparency of personal data processing, in which neither the scope nor the type of personal data collected can be determined, especially considering that sensitive information from personal and family life may be collected...", the Agency said.
They pointed out that the results of a polygraph test can be unreliable, subjective, or subject to manipulation, which leads to doubts about the validity of this method as a reliable means of establishing the truth, and the results of such a test cannot serve as evidence.
"Also, polygraph testing requires the voluntary consent of the person to whom it will be applied, and in this context, refusing to give consent for polygraph testing cannot constitute a breach of official duty," the Agency pointed out. They suggested to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to further strengthen the provisions regulating the issue of introducing polygraph testing or other methods of determining the circumstances of work and performing specific police work, which include a thorough background investigation, assessment of professional abilities, and the like, while the use of polygraphs in this specific case should be exempted from the law or prescribed in accordance with the above suggestions.
The new law, adopted in a package with the Law on the National Security Agency (ANB) despite opposition from part of the public and the opposition, provides for the possibility of polygraph testing, but only with the prior written consent of the police officer being tested.
According to the Agency's annual report, the institution held 71 sessions last year and considered 4.415 cases within its jurisdiction. Controllers in the field of personal data protection conducted 133 extraordinary inspections, 60 of which were based on requests for the protection of rights.
Authorities received over 7.000 requests
Last year, non-governmental organizations, citizens, media, businesses, parties and institutions submitted 7.481 requests for free access to information to government bodies.
According to the annual report of the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information, this is about 10 percent more than the previous year.
Authorities approved a total of 3.696 requests, rejected 2.073, while 945 requests were partially approved.
Most requests were sent to ministries and municipalities, followed by administrations, while a smaller number were sent to the judiciary, public institutions, state-owned companies, agencies, the prosecutor's office, and the Government.
The non-governmental sector submitted over half of the requests - 4.209, individuals 2.578, companies 265, and the media 240. The largest number of requests for free access to information to government bodies was submitted by the non-governmental organization Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) - 2.496.
The Agency decided on 4.769 appeals and approved over half of them. 1.016 appeals were approved, annulling the decision of the first-instance body, and 1.209 were approved due to violation of procedural rules, or silence of the administration.
7.481 requests for free access to information were submitted to government bodies last year by non-governmental organizations, citizens, media, business entities, parties and institutions.
The most proactive Municipality of Bijelo Polje, MPA, Parliament
Requests for free access to information once again confirm the thesis that there is a much greater need to publish in an easily searchable manner information that has resulted from work, within their jurisdiction, in machine-readable data, which is the exception, not the rule, the AZLP concludes.
Through 133 inspections, the Agency's inspectors pointed out the need for easy searchability of mandatory information on websites.
"It should be noted that, when it comes to the websites of municipal bodies, they are located within a common site, which has the advantage of easy searchability, but it must be continuously updated due to the quality of the information requested. The publication of data regarding the adoption of plans and annual reports is linked to the adoption by municipal assemblies, so mandatory publications are often prolonged despite the legal obligation to adopt within the deadlines prescribed by law," the AZLP explains.
They claim that the Municipality of Bijelo Polje is the most transparent in its work, while the Municipality of Zeta, after conducting inspections, adopted recommendations and created the prerequisites for greater transparency, and the Municipality of Bar made its website closer to all end users.
"The most proactive first-instance bodies are the Ministry of Public Administration, the Parliament of Montenegro, the Municipalities of Bijelo Polje, Zeta and Bar, while we provide strong support to those who are lagging behind, so that in the time ahead of them, with the strong support of the Agency, they can reach the required degree and level of proactivity, because the goal is an up-to-date, easily searchable and accessible website," the Agency says.
Administration's silence remains a problem
The Agency's Council points to a large number of cases that relate to already recognized trends of silence by the administration of first-instance bodies, and that the number of accepted complaints is a cause for concern.
They claim that they are conducting training in cooperation with foreign partners to become familiar with the real challenges in their work and find possible solutions to greatly reduce the silence of the administration.
"A clear picture is emerging that the system is lethargic to requests for free access to information, which results in a higher number of cases in the Agency's work, and, through the system of connected courts, a higher number of lawsuits filed with the Administrative Court in 2025," the Agency believes.
Comparative data shows half the number of accepted complaints in 2025 due to the silence of the administration, but also notes that applicants wait an unjustified long time for the requested information.
"The total number of complaints considered due to violation of procedural rules (administration silence) is 1.845, of which in 1.209 cases the complaint was accepted and a decision was ordered, while in 311 cases the procedure was suspended because the party was satisfied with the subsequently adopted decision. The Agency Council rejected the complaint in 325 cases because the first-instance body made a decision and delivered it to the parties in the procedure. There is a visible growth trend of 65,52 percent of accepted complaints due to administration silence," the report says.
According to the data, in 2020, 1.002 complaints due to the administration's silence were approved, in 2024 as many as 2.374, and last year 1.209.
Journalists complained most about Barska plovidba, Airports, and the Port of Bar
According to statistics from the Media Union, journalists submitted a total of 240 requests for free access to information during 2025.
"The number of rejected requests for free access to information is 65, while 38 requests were partially granted," the report says.
Journalists filed 98 complaints regarding individual requests for free access to information last year. The largest number of complaints were filed against Barska plovidba (11), the Public Enterprise Airports of Montenegro and the Port of Bar (nine each), followed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (seven).
"There is a noticeable growing trend in the use of FOI requests from 29 in 2020 to 240 FOI requests in 2025, which has popularized the request as a tool in the work of journalists, affirming the right to access documents held by first-instance government bodies as a mechanism for influencing policies that are important to the community and a control mechanism in the decision-making process of the executive, judicial, prosecutorial and legislative authorities, state and local self-government bodies, as well as companies in majority state ownership," the report concludes.
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