The translation of a legal text requires a specific methodology which takes into account the juridical culture of the original text and its counterpart in the targeted text. In the process of such a translation, comparative law occupies a primordial role. The article then focuses on the following three phases of this process: the semasiological phase, the phase of the comparative law and the onomasiological phase. Depending on the type of translation, however, the comparative aspect of the law becomes more or less necessary or even mandatory. The distinction proposed in this article between vertical and horizontal translation shall shed light upon the ways to translate and the way the comparative phase of legal systems comes into play. In addition, the evaluation of a “juridical degree” allows to further analyse the impact of law on translation. This new concept consists in taking into account the technical aspect of legal vocabulary on the one hand, and the legal dimensions of the text and its translation on the other. The concept around the fluctuating juridical degrees shall be explained and illustrated through a number of specific examples.