Hof van Cassatie van België – Cour de Cassation de Belgique – Kassationshof von Belgiën (Court of Cassation of Belgium)
Beatrijs Deconinck
First President of the Cour de cassation
First President since: 2 April 2019
Member of the Supreme Court since: 2006
Biography and career
Ms Beatrijs Deconinck was born in Ypres on 5 July 1955. She studied law at KULAK and graduated from Ghent University in 1978 with a degree in law and criminology. After her studies, she was successively a part-time assistant and lecturer at the Institute of Judicial Law of Ghent University. She is still linked to this institution as an academic consultant. She is also co-chair of the Inter-University Centre for Judicial Law.
Ms Deconinck began her legal career at the Ypres Bar in 1978. She joined the judiciary in 1990, when she was appointed judge at the Court of First Instance in Furnes. In 1995, she was appointed as an adviser to the Ghent Court of Appeal. On 4 May 2006, she was sworn in as an adviser to the Court of Cassation. She has been Deputy Section President since 26 June 2014. She is also a substitute judge at the Benelux Court of Justice and is active in the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters.
Ms Deconinck is particularly interested in civil matters, including civil law, European procedural law and disciplinary law and is the author of a wide range of scientific publications in these fields. She sits mainly in the First and Third Chambers of the Court.
For many years, Ms Deconinck has also been closely involved in the functioning of the local school community in Ypres.
