Lie detector tests could be used regularly on 'high risk' sex offenders 
 
 Compulsory lie detector tests are set be introduced to monitor convicted sex offenders under a change to the law due to be approved later. The national rollout of US-style mandatory polygraph tests for serious sex offenders who have been released into the community after serving their prison sentence follows a successful pilot scheme. The trial was carried out from 2009-11 in two Midlands probation areas and found that offenders taking such tests were twice as likely to tell probation staff they had contacted a victim, entered an exclusion zone or otherwise breached terms of their release licence. The tests involve measuring reactions to specific questions by monitoring heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and levels of perspiration to assess whether the subject is being truthful. If convicted rapists or other dangerous sex attackers are found to have lied about crucial matters or breached the terms of their licence after being released from jail they could be sent back to prison. Justice Minister Jeremy Wright issued a statement saying: "Introducing lie detector tests, alongside the sex offenders register and close monitoring in the community, will give us one of the toughest approaches in the world to managing this group. "We recently announced the creation of a new National Probation Service tasked with protecting the public from the most high-risk offenders. "They will be able to call on this technology to help stop sex offenders from reoffending and leaving more innocent victims in their wake." Polygraph testing is used in court in 19 states in America, subject to the discretion of the trial judge, but it is widely used by prosecutors, defence lawyers and law enforcement agencies across the US.
– Serious sex offenders in the UK will soon be forced to take routine lie detector tests after being released from prison, Sky News reports. The new legislation is expected to be approved shortly and implemented next year. Though the polygraph test results won't be admissible in court, officials expect they'll help reveal probation violations that could land offenders back in jail. While the test could point out those who may be lying about their activities, there's also a big chance it'll spur them to own up to such behavior, per the Guardian. The paper reports that a three-year trial program found that offenders who took polygraphs were twice as likely to cop to prohibited behavior like communicating with a victim. "Introducing lie detector tests, alongside the sex offenders register and close monitoring in the community, will give us one of the toughest approaches in the world to managing this group," says a Justice Minister in a statement, adding that the new approach will "help stop sex offenders from reoffending and leaving more innocent victims in their wake."