Recent reforms to Poland's legal and institutional framework threaten human rights and the rule of law, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks said on Wednesday. He urged the Polish government to rethink the recent changes, especially to the Constitutional Tribunal, which Muižnieks said is now in a state of "prolonged paralysis." In January, the European Commission launched an unprecedented inquiry into whether Poland violated EU rule of law standards with its reforms to the Constitutional Tribunal.