The conceptual approach which was used when composing the Czech-English Law Dictionary with Explanations is realised in the inclusion of 'explanations' to facilitate transfer between two different legal systems, or seen from a different perspective, to manage the transfer of knowledge and its application in particular cases. In managing knowledge, assumptions can and are made about the level and scope of knowledge possessed by different interlocutors in the communication process. A comparative legal and linguistic study was carried out to primarily analyse three main aspects forming the basis for the writing of the Czech-English Law Dictionary with Explanations: 1) the language of law in the Czech Republic and major English-speaking countries, 2) approaches to the translation of legal texts, and 3) approaches to dictionary-writing in the are of bilingual special-purpose lexicography. This article concentrates on selected items in each of these areas.