Offbeat | Romanian court says ‘dead man’ can get driving license back

Constantin Reliu speaks to media, outside a courtroom, in Vaslui, northern Romania, which rejected Constantin’s claim that he’s alive

Days after one Romanian court told a man he was officially dead despite evidence to the contrary, another court has declared that a man who was truly dead could get his driving license back.

A court in the northern city of Iasi last week confirmed that Valerian Vasiliu should have his license returned and be reimbursed a fine he paid for speeding.  Vasiliu was fined and temporarily lost his license in March 2017, but appealed the punishment in court and won an interim ruling.

He died in October, before the ruling was final. Police still appealed, but this month lost their appeal.

Local lawyer Gianina Porosnicu, a traffic law specialist, told the Mediafax agency that “cases like this may seem odd or even sinister,” and blamed “a legal void.”

In an almost opposite situation last week, a Romanian man who had been officially declared dead lost his bid to have his death certificate canceled.

Constantin Reliu, a 63-year-old cook, returned from Turkey in January and found out that his wife had declared him dead.  Reliu tried to get his death certificate overturned in court, but his appeal was rejected because his request was filed “too late.”