5.  The applicant was born in 1957 and lives in Yerevan.
6.  In 1983 and 1988 the applicant was found guilty of indecent acts with minors and sentenced to prison sentences.
7.  On 25 January 2001 the Court of Cassation decided to allow an extraordinary appeal lodged by the Deputy Prosecutor General of Armenia, quashed the two judgments and terminated both sets of criminal proceedings against the applicant on the grounds of absence of corpus delicti. In particular, the Court of Cassation found that there was no evidence to suggest that the applicant had committed the imputed offences, and that the court judgments had been based on assumptions and erroneous interpretation of the law.
8.  From 2001 the applicant lodged two civil claims against the State, seeking compensation for pecuniary damage sustained as a result of his two convictions. These claims were allowed on 10 September 2001 and 26 August 2005 by the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court of Yerevan, which decided to award the applicant – as an acquitted person – sums of money in compensation for lost income, medical costs incurred to restore his damaged health, his future treatment abroad and travel costs to be incurred in that connection.
9.  On 13 April 2005 Investigator N. of the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Prosecutor’s Office instituted a criminal case under Article 316 § 1 of the Criminal Code (“the CC”) in respect of the applicant who was suspected of having assaulted two traffic-police officers, V.S. and G.G., who had stopped the applicant’s car for a violation of traffic laws.
10.  On the same date, the applicant was arrested and two days later charged, under the same Article, with assaulting the two traffic-police officers.
11.  On 16 April 2005 it was decided not to detain the applicant and to release him on a written undertaking not to leave his place of residence, on the grounds that he was a disabled person suffering from a number of diseases, had no previous convictions, had two children who were minors, as well as his wife and mother as dependants, and had a permanent place of residence.
12.  On an unspecified date the two police officers were recognised as victims for the purposes of the criminal case.
13.  On 5 May 2005 the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court of Yerevan, on the basis of an application by the investigator, changed the preventive measure in respect of the applicant from a written undertaking not to leave his place of residence to detention on remand for a period of two months. The applicant lodged an appeal against that decision, which was dismissed by the Criminal Court of Appeal on 2 June 2005.
14.  In the course of the investigation the applicant testified that V.S. and G.G. had demanded a bribe from him in order not to record a violation of the traffic laws and then subjected him to beatings when he refused. A forensic medical examination of the applicant was carried out, which found that he had suffered injuries, including concussion and a fractured cheek bone.
15.  On 10 June 2005 the applicant’s lawyer addressed a letter to the investigator, alleging that it had been the applicant who had been assaulted by V.S. and G.G rather than the other way around. Thus, the applicant’s actions had been wrongly assessed as falling within the scope of Article 316 § 1 of the CC, while no charges had been brought against the police officers. The lawyer requested the investigator that such charges be brought.
16.  On 20 June 2005 the District Prosecutor decided to replace the applicant’s detention on remand with a written undertaking not to leave his place of residence, on the same grounds as previously (see paragraph 
11 above).
17.  On 21 June 2005 Investigator N., having reviewed the materials of the criminal case against the applicant, took a decision to discontinue a part of that case and not to carry out criminal prosecution (Որոշում քրեական գործի մասը կարճելու և քրեական հետապնդում չիրականացնելու) with regard to the infliction of injuries on the applicant by V.S. and G.G.. The investigator found that the traffic-police officers had inflicted injuries on the applicant as they had tried to overcome his resistance at the time of arrest, and therefore their actions had amounted to a legitimate use of force.
18.  On 16 February 2006 the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court of Yerevan acquitted the applicant, finding that he was not guilty of the imputed offence. The District Court also held that the police officers V.S. and G.G. had exceeded their authority by acting violently against the applicant, which had caused serious damage and grave consequences to the applicant and his family. In particular, the applicant had been taken to the police station unlawfully and had been arrested on the basis of false information provided by traffic-police officers V.S. and G.G. The police officers had subjected the applicant to beatings, as a result of which the latter had sustained injuries, including a concussion and a fractured cheek bone. Furthermore, they had forced the applicant into the police car and driven him to the police station leaving the applicant’s car, with his eight‑year-old son inside, in the outside lane of the road. As a result, the applicant’s son had suffered psychological trauma and damage to his health. In spite of the fact that the applicant had not violated the conditions of his written undertaking not to leave his place of residence and that he had been a disabled person and had had two minors as dependants, the investigator had applied to a court with an unfounded application seeking to have him detained. As a result, the applicant had been detained from 5 May to 20 June 2005. Moreover, the grounds for his release on 20 June 2005 under a written undertaking were the same as those which had already been used on 16 April 2005 to justify his release under a written undertaking as opposed to placing him in pre-trial detention. The District Court lastly found that the investigator had taken an unfounded decision not to prosecute the police officers by assessing their actions as lawful and asked the Prosecutor General, with reference to Article 184 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“the CCP”), to institute criminal proceedings against them under Article 309 § 3 of the CC for exceeding their authority, resulting in grave consequences.
19.  On unspecified dates the prosecutor’s office and Officers V.S. and G.G. lodged appeals against that judgment.
20.  On 14 November 2006 the Criminal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals and upheld the judgment of the District Court, finding that the applicant had acted in necessary self-defence. However, it decided to annul the request made to the Prosecutor General on the grounds that Article 21 of the CCP prohibited the reopening of proceedings if there had been a decision of the prosecuting authority to discontinue the proceedings or not to carry out prosecution. On 21 June 2005 the investigator had taken such a decision in respect of V.S. and G.G., which had never been annulled, hence Article 21 excluded the possibility of prosecuting them.
21.  On 15 May 2007 the Court of Cassation declared inadmissible for lack of merit an appeal lodged by police officers V.S. and G.G. against that judgment.
22.  On 27 November 2007 the applicant lodged a complaint with the courts, seeking to annul the investigator’s decision of 21 June 2005 as it contradicted the findings reached by the courts in his trial when assessing the actions of the police officers.
23.  The district prosecutor argued that the applicant’s complaint must be dismissed, since he had missed the six months’ time-limit prescribed by Article 21 § 4 of the CCP. The applicant argued in reply that, pursuant to Article 21 § 5 of the CCP, the time-limits prescribed by that Article did not apply in the event of newly emerged circumstances, which in his case were the judgments adopted in his criminal case. Furthermore, the prosecuting authority was obliged by law to take measures to restore his rights of its own motion.
24.  On 25 March 2008 the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court of Yerevan decided to dismiss the complaint, finding the district prosecutor’s arguments under Article 21 of the CCP to be valid. It further stated that the district prosecutor’s office could not bear responsibility for the applicant’s failure to contest the investigator’s decision in due time.
25.  The applicant lodged an appeal against that decision.
26.  On 19 May 2008 the Criminal Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal, finding that Article 21 § 5 of the CCP was not applicable to his case and holding that the applicant had failed to contest the investigator’s decision of 21 June 2005 within the time-limits prescribed by Articles 21 and 290 of the CCP, as well as the time-limit for requesting a reopening of a case prescribed by Article 426.3 of the CCP. The Court of Appeal’s decision was subject to appeal within one month of the date of its delivery.
27.  On 16 March 2009 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law against the Court of Appeal’s decision, together with a request that the missed one-month time-limit for appeal be renewed.
28.  On 8 April 2009 the Court of Cassation found that the applicant had failed to show that he had valid reasons for missing the prescribed one-month time‑limit and decided to refuse the examination of the applicant’s appeal on points of law.
29.  On 11 September 2007 the applicant lodged a civil claim against the State, seeking further compensation for pecuniary damage, specifically for loss of income, and compensation for non-pecuniary damage in relation to his two unfair convictions, in the amount of 15,078,664 United States dollars, and in relation to his unlawful arrest and detention and infliction of bodily harm, in the amount of 1,000,000 euros (EUR).
30.  On 26 November 2007 the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court decided to dismiss his claims. It stated at the outset that the applicant was an “acquitted person” within the meaning of Article 66 of the CCP and was entitled under the same Article to claim pecuniary damage suffered as a result of his unlawful arrest, detention, indictment and conviction. However, the types of compensation that the applicant sought were not envisaged by Article 66 § 4 of the CCP, apart from that sought for loss of income, which the applicant had failed to substantiate.
31.  On 28 November 2007 the applicant lodged an appeal.
32.  On 7 March 2008 the Civil Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the judgment of the District Court, finding that the applicant had already been compensated for pecuniary damage in relation to his convictions, while his new claims for pecuniary damages were unsubstantiated. As regards the claim for non-pecuniary damage, this had to be rejected on the grounds that Armenian law did not provide for compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
33.  On 29 July 2008 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law, which was declared inadmissible for lack of merit by the Court of Cassation on 28 October 2008.
34.  On 26 February 2009 the applicant lodged another civil claim against the State, seeking compensation for pecuniary damage suffered as a result of his ill-treatment, such as various medical costs.
35.  On 26 December 2011 the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court of Yerevan examined the applicant’s claim. It held at the outset, with reference to the judgments adopted in the applicant’s criminal case and Article 52 of the Code of Civil Procedure, that the applicant had a case for damages under Article 1063 of the Civil Code, taking into account the fact that the police officers’ actions had been unlawful within the meaning of that Article. The District Court went on to conclude, however, that there was no causal link between the police officers’ unlawful actions and the specific medical costs claimed by the applicant, and decided to dismiss the claim.
36.  On 25 January 2012 the applicant lodged an appeal.
37.  On 4 October 2012 the Civil Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the judgment of the District Court.
38.  On 2 November 2012 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law, which was declared inadmissible for lack of merit by the Court of Cassation on 28 November 2012.