Raul is a comparative law and politics scholar specializing in judicial politics, constitutionalism, and the rule of law under democratic erosion and hybrid authoritarianism. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at Stanford Law School’s Neukom Center for the Rule of Law and an incoming Professor of Law at Western Sydney University.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws (cum laude) from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela, a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina.
His research focuses primarily on the transformation of judiciaries, the intersection of law and political power, and authoritarian legality, with a core geographic focus on Venezuela and Latin America. His fieldwork investigates how courts are co-opted or manipulated to sustain non-democratic regimes and how informal judicial networks influence the administration of justice. His recent co-edited volumes include Informality and Courts (German Law Publishers, 2024) and Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro (Routledge, 2025).
Before his current appointments, he spent over a decade in Australia at La Trobe University in Melbourne, where he served as an Associate Professor of Crime, Justice, and Legal Studies, Associate Dean (International) for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Director of the Legal Studies Program.