Erik Derycke (politician)

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Erik A. N. Derycke (born 28 October 1949 in Waregem, West Flanders) is a Belgian Flemish politician, lawyer and judge. He earned a law degree from Ghent University in 1972. He served the Flemish socialists in several roles: Waregem municipal councilor (1988–2001), West Flanders provincial council member (1978–1984), and member of the Belgian Federal Parliament (1984–2001). He was state secretary for research policy (1990), then for development cooperation (1991), and foreign minister from 1995 to 1999. In 2001 he was appointed to the Court of Arbitration (which later became the Constitutional Court) and retired in October 2019 at age 70; he is now an emeritus judge at the Constitutional Court.