Oscar is a Brazilian legal scholar, professor, and human rights advocate. He serves as the Dean and a founding professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation Law School in São Paulo (FGV Direito SP), where he teaches constitutional law, human rights, and law and development. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, an LL.M. from Columbia Law School, and both a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (USP), followed by post-doctoral studies at Oxford University.
His career bridges academic research, institutional design, and civic action. In 2000, he founded Conectas Human Rights and the Pro Bono Institute, establishing organizational infrastructure for public interest law and human rights monitoring in the Global South. His prior administrative and advisory roles include serving as executive secretary of the Teotônio Vilela Human Rights Commission and executive secretary of ILANUD in Brazil.
His socio-legal scholarship focuses on constitutionalism, democratic backsliding, and the rule of law. His publications examine judicial institutions during political crises, notably in books like A Constituição e sua reserva de justiça and Estado de direito e populismo autoritário. He also coordinates FGV’s multidisciplinary team evaluating complex socio-environmental disasters, such as the Rio Doce and Brumadinho dam failures, and contributes legal analysis as a columnist for Folha de S. Paulo.