Matters deemed especially serious by the French officials, or matters for which the colonial power had any interest, were handled by a French administrator-judge. All criminal cases were handled by a "tribunaux du premier degré" directed by the "chef du subdivision" (the lowest post held by caucasians) with the assistance of two local notables and two caucasian officials, or (in practice) anyone the administrator-judge chose. These could be appealed to the "tribunal criminal" where the administrator-judge was the local "Commandant du cercle", and was not bound to heed the advice of even his own appointed assistants. Beyond this, there was no functioning appeals process, though in theory, the colonies' governor had to sign off on all decisions which imposed punishments greater than those allowed for summary sentences. Historians examining the court records have found that governors were asked for approval after the fact, and in all but a minuscule number of cases signed off on whatever their commandants decided.