5.  The applicant was born in 1972 and now lives in Odessa, Ukraine.
6.  On 31 January 2014 the applicant sold a plot of land and a summer cottage in the Moscow Region for 4,600,000 Russian roubles (RUB). On 20 February 2014 he exchanged RUB 3,605,000 for 100,000 United States dollars (USD).
7.  On 19 March 2014 the applicant travelled to Odessa from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. He was carrying the entire USD 100,000 in his handbag. At the security check, his hand luggage was X-rayed. An officer asked him whether he was carrying any cash. The applicant acknowledged that he had money in his handbag and showed it to the officer.
8.  The applicant was subsequently interviewed by a police officer and an investigator on suspicion of smuggling foreign currency. He insisted on the lawful origin of the money and claimed that he had erroneously believed that the customs control would take place after the security check.
9.  On 18 April 2014 the investigator refused to initiate criminal proceedings because it could not be established that the applicant had deliberately sought to circumvent customs regulations.
10.  On 6 June 2014 the Federal Customs Service prepared a report on a regulatory customs offence under Article 16.4 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The applicant was charged for his failure to make a written declaration in respect of the USD 100,000 he had been carrying on him.
11.  A hearing was held on 18 December 2014 before a justice of the peace in the Domodedovo District of the Moscow Region. The court held that the customs report and statements the applicant had given to the police were sufficient evidence of the offence. It was legally irrelevant whether he had deliberately sought to circumvent customs regulations or negligently failed to abide by the applicable declaration requirements. The court issued a confiscation order for USD 90,000, reasoning as follows:
“When deciding on the punishment, the court takes into account the nature and gravity of the offence which is connected to the operation of a hazardous device, the information on the character of Mr Gyrlyan, who has no previous record of similar offences, and considers it appropriate to order confiscation of the object of the administrative offence.”
12.  In his grounds of appeal, the applicant relied in particular on the case-law of the Constitutional Court, which emphasised that any punishment had to be fair and proportionate to the nature of the offence, the gravity of the consequences, the extent of the damage and other relevant factors. He pointed out that the money had been lawfully obtained and that his actions had not caused any damage to the State.
13.  On 14 January 2015 the Domodedovo Town Court dismissed the appeal in a summary fashion, noting that the punishment had been determined “within the range of penalties [provided for in Article 16.4 of the Code of Administrative Offences] and with regard to the character of the offender”.
14.  An appeal on points of law was dismissed by the deputy president of the Moscow Regional Court on 30 April 2015. He wrote that “the defence’s allegation of a formalistic approach on the part of the [lower] courts [was their] subjective opinion that [did not] shield Mr Gyrlyan from liability.”