4.  The applicants were born in 1939 and 1976 respectively and live in Shnogh village.
5.  In the 1970s a copper-molybdenum deposit (‘Teghout’) was discovered about four and six km away from the villages of Teghout and Shnogh respectively, in the Lori Region.
6.  In 2001 a private company, Armenian Copper Programme CJSC, was granted a mining licence for the exploitation of the Teghout copper‑molybdenum deposit for a period of twenty-five years.
7.  On 1 November 2007 the Government adopted Decree no. 1279-N approving the designation of territories situated within the administrative boundaries of the rural communities of Shnogh and Teghout in the Lori Region as expropriation zones, to be taken for State needs, thus changing the land use category. According to the Decree, Armenian Copper Programme CJSC or Teghout CJSC, founded by the former for the purpose of the implementation of the Teghout copper-molybdenum deposit exploitation project, were to acquire the units of land listed in its annexes.
8.  The plots of land belonging to the applicants were listed among the units of land falling within these expropriation zones.
9.  The applicants, father and son, live in Shnogh village and earn their living from agriculture. They jointly owned six plots of arable land in the village measuring 0.053 ha, 0.448 ha, 0.075 ha, 0.254 ha, 0.212 ha and 0.799 ha. The land was used for growing crops for the family, gardening and feeding their livestock.
10.  On an unspecified date Teghout CJSC addressed a letter to the applicants containing an offer to buy their six plots of land for 19,000 Armenian drams (AMD, approximately 41 euros (EUR)), AMD 213,000 (approximately EUR 463), AMD 26,000 (approximately EUR 57), AMD 87,000 (approximately EUR 190), AMD 73,000 (approximately EUR 160), and AMD 339,000 (approximately EUR 737) respectively plus an additional 15% on each amount offered as required by law, making the final offer AMD 870,550 (approximately EUR 1,893) in total.
11.  The applicants did not reply to the offer, not being satisfied with the amount of compensation. It appears that they were unable to obtain a valuation of their property by another company. They claim that no other valuation company was willing to make an independent assessment of the market value of their land.
12.  On 12 May 2008 Teghout CJSC lodged a claim against the applicants and their late mother, H., seeking to oblige them to sign the agreement on the taking of their property for State needs. The company based its claim, inter alia, on valuation reports prepared at its request by Oliver Group LLC, a licensed valuation company. According to the reports, the market value of the applicants’ six plots of land was estimated at AMD 757,000 (approximately EUR 1,645) in total.
13.  In the proceedings before the Lori Regional Court, the second applicant argued that the market value of their land had been underestimated.
14.  In the course of the proceedings, Teghout CJSC submitted other valuation reports in respect of the applicants’ property, stating that Oliver Group LLC had prepared corrected reports according to which the market value of the entire property was AMD 1,038,000 (approximately EUR 2,257). The final amount of compensation, including the additional 15% required by law, would thus be equal to AMD 1,193,700 (approximately EUR 2,595).
15.  On 28 November 2008 the Regional Court granted Teghout CJSC’s claim, awarding H. and the applicants a total of AMD 1,193,700 (approximately EUR 2,595) in compensation.
16.  The applicants lodged an appeal, complaining, inter alia, that the first applicant had not been duly notified about the proceedings. They further argued that the Regional Court, although aware that H. had died in 2007, had delivered a judgment that concerned her rights.
17.  On 3 April 2009 the Civil Court of Appeal quashed the Regional Court’s judgment and remitted the case for a fresh examination.
18.  On 7 October 2009 the Regional Court granted Teghout CJSC’s claim finding, inter alia, that the valuation reports prepared by Oliver Group LLC should be considered lawful and acceptable evidence to determine the market value of the applicants’ property to be taken for State needs. The Regional Court stated that the first applicant, as H.’s successor, should be awarded her share in the compensation, and awarded the applicants a total of AMD 1,193,700 (approximately EUR 2,595) in equal shares as compensation.
19.  The applicants lodged an appeal, claiming, inter alia, that the market value of their land had been seriously underestimated and that the amount of compensation offered to them was not adequate. They argued that the Regional Court had accepted the reports submitted by their opponent as established proof of the market value of their property. They argued in particular that, in order to provide them with a reasonable opportunity to present their case, the Regional Court should have exercised its statutory discretion to order an expert examination, since such a necessity had arisen in the course of the proceedings and they had had no opportunity to provide an alternative valuation themselves.
20.  On 3 February 2010 the Civil Court of Appeal upheld the Regional Court’s judgment, stating that the applicants had failed to raise their complaints concerning the alleged inadmissibility of evidence at the first level of jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal did not address the issue of whether the Regional Court should have exercised its statutory discretion to order an expert examination to determine the real market value of the applicants’ property, given that there was a dispute on this issue.
21.  The applicants lodged an appeal on points of law. They raised similar complaints to those raised before the Court of Appeal.
22.  On 24 March 2010 the Court of Cassation declared the applicants’ cassation appeal inadmissible for lack of merit.