This volume presents the results of an international research project focussing on the lexicon-grammatical, generic and textual analysis of legal discourse in multilingual and multicultural contexts. The particular focus of the investigation is the arbitration discourse in use in several European countries. For each of the countries involved, a comparison has been carried out between the local arbitration law and the UNICITRAL Model Law approved by the United Nations in 1985. The English language text of this Model Law has been compared with the local language text of the arbitration law of each country and any discrepancies have been investigated in order to identify the possible differences in the legal cultures underlying the two texts.