The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe and its chairman Malachy Vallely will not appeal the verdict by a Belgian court holding them criminally responsible for the fire that killed two Irish students in Leuven in January 2014, according to an Institute spokesman.
Civil proceedings against both parties, taken by the students' families, will get under way tomorrow.
A court in Belgium had found both Vallely and the Institute guilty in the case of the fire, which killed Dace Zarina and Sara Gibadlo in the early hours of the morning of 31 January 2014.
Vallely was the owner of the building in which the students died, as well as being a director of the Institute, known as the Irish College, when the fire broke out.
RTÉ News understands that Vallely remains chairman of the board of the institute.
The court in the university city of Leuven had also found the institute criminally responsible for the deaths of the two students.
Vallely was given a one-year jail term, suspended, and was fined €6,000. The Leuven Institute was fined €60,000.
Civil proceedings against the institute and Vallely, taken on behalf of the Zarina and Gibadlo families, are due to get underway at Leuven Court tomorrow morning.
The families will not attend the proceedings, as the court is only expected to outline a schedule for the case.
RTÉ News understands, however, that both families will provide victim impact statements once the civil proceedings get under way.
Professional submissions as to the suffering incurred will also be made to the court.
