THE SPIRITUALIZATION OF CRIMINAL LAW AND ITS LIMITS: AN INTERPRETATION OF CLAUS ROXIN’S THEORY THROUGH THE LENS OF PENAL GUARANTEES AND MINIMAL INTERVENTION

Abstract

Socioeconomic and technological transformations have driven the phenomenon of the spiritualization of legal interests, expanding criminal protection to macro-collective interests in the risk society. This expansion creates dogmatic tensions between preventive efficiency and the preservation of individual guarantees. The objective of this study is to analyze the limits of the spiritualization of Criminal Law in light of Claus Roxin's functionalist theory, examining its compatibility with Luigi Ferrajoli's garantismo and minimum intervention. Methodologically, a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive research was conducted through literature review and deductive doctrinal analysis, searching the SciELO, Google Scholar, and CAPES. The results demonstrate that Roxin's theory legitimizes the protection of new interests based on constitutional values, while criminal garantismo operates as an essential dogmatic counterweight. To harmonize these currents, four material criteria are proposed: constitutional relevance, offensive idoneity, structural subsidiarity, and strict proportionality. It is concluded that spiritualization is legitimate as long as it is subjected to a rigorous normative argumentative burden, in which functionalist efficiency is constrained by garantista barriers and ultima ratio, preventing merely symbolic criminal law.