Introduction to a special issue with a selection of papers presented at the first Transius conference, held in June 2015 at the University of Geneva. Whereas legal translation was, for a long time, viewed mainly as a way to enable communication between neatly delimited legal orders, the focus of attention has moved to the production of multilingual law in a legal world characterised by multiple interrelated levels. In this context, legal communication – which has to meet the needs of experts and respect the rights of citizens – is the result of complex interlingual processes involving, but not limited to, translation. Legal translation is approached here as a specialised activity requiring expertise and involving choice in various highly specific institutional contexts.