Human Rights Law and Evidence-Based Policy, edited by Rosemary Byrne and Han Entzinger, is a collected volume on the European Union (EU) Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). It presents a review on the Agency's work in its first decade and is guided by five recurring themes: (1) FRA's mandate to give advice on the promotion of human rights but not to monitor it; (2) the effects of FRA's position as part of institutional governance; (3) the advantages and disadvantages of the Agency's technocratic approach; (4) the FRA's struggle in setting an independent agenda; and (5) the challenges emerging from research on human rights in the EU's diverse and multicultural environment.

As a result of the many aspects considered, the insight into FRA's work offered by the volume can indeed be described as multifaceted. It encompasses discussions on the specific characteristics of the Agency's work against the backdrop of human rights research and protection. In so doing, each of the characteristics is also addressed from a critical perspective. Moreover, this insight is provided from a first-hand perspective. Botheditors were engaged in the work of the Agency themselves: Rosemary Byrne was a member of FRA's Scientific Committee as well as the Committee 's chair, and Han Entzinger was both vice-chair and chair of the Agency 's Scientific Committee. The same is true for most of the contributors to the book. Thus, the contributions contained in the volume not only draw on expertise in the relevant fields, but also on personal experience.

The book is comprised of 17 individual contributions. Other than simply providing a compendium of various articles on a general topic, however, the contributions are further sub-categorised into three parts. Contributions in Part I focus on topics such as the historical development of FRA, its competences and the specifics of its communication. Part II contains articles dealing with the Agency's methodology. It covers both methodological challenges and FRA's work in specific areas. Part III presents an assessment of the previous achievements of FRA and reflections on its prospective work, including analysis of existing constraints.