The purpose of this article is to expose the increasing restrictiveness of the legal regime from the principle of universal jurisdiction,the underlying motivations that have caused this limitation in the international level, and the importance of this new configuration when persecuting and punishing the crimes against legal assets that belongto the international community. For this, an analysis of the legislation that covers this area is made, focusing in Spain and other similar countries, and of the more important judicial processes carried out under this principle.