Its Status

4 members of Parliament

• 2 Senators,
• 2 members of the National Assembly

2 members of the Economic and Social Council

6 Supreme Court Judges

• 2 members of the “Conseil d’Etat”, the Administrative Supreme Court, 
• 2members of the Judicial Supreme Court (“Cour de cassation”),
• 2 members of the National Accounting Office (“Cour des comptes”)

5 qualified personalities appointed by

• the Cabinet (3),
• the Chairman of the National Assembly (1)
• and the Chairman of the Senate (1)

• 12 of the 17 commissioners are elected or appointed by the assemblies or courts to which they belong.
• The CNIL elects its Chairman among its members. It does not report to any authority. Ministers, public authorities, private or public company managers cannot oppose the CNIL’s action.
• The CNIL Chairman has full liberty to hire the commission’s staff.
• The CNIL’s budget is allocated from the State’s budget CNIL employees are State
  civil servants.
• Appeals may be filed against the CNIL’s decisions before administrative courts.

CNIL commissioners hold plenary and sanction committee sessions once a week, on an agenda prepared by its Chairman.

A large number of meetings is dedicated to reviewing bills and decrees submitted to the CNIL by the Government.

The CNIL also authorizes the implementation of sensitive records, such as those containing biometric data.

Since the adoption of the August 6, 2004 Act, the commission’s Sanction Select Committee, comprising six members, may issue sanctions ranging from warnings to maximum fines of €300,000 against data controllers failing to comply with the law.