In 1991, the French Parliament established the first administrative oversight commission dedicated to state surveillance measures of intelligence agencies. The CNCIS, like its successor the CNCTR, was comprised nine members, both magistrates and members of Parliament. rule was that the Prime Minister had to notify the CNCIS of every wiretap authorization within 48 hours. If the CNCIS deemed the authorization illegal, it could send “recommendations” to the Prime Minister to ask for the wiretap to end (within a year, it became standard practice for the Prime Minister to wait for the CNCIS opinion before conducting wiretaps). Authorizations remained valid for four months, after which they either had to be renewed or else expire.