This contribution is directed to the needs of translators and the implications thereof for lexicographers. Drawing on Jakobson’s semiotic theory of translation, the author characterizes law as a ‘dual semiotic system composed of the language in which it is expressed, and the discursive system expressed by that language’. She points out the difficulties that arise from the artificial separation of words from their context. The lexicon is presented only at the level of language as a system. This results in what Gak calls ‘the lamentable gap between what is proposed in dictionaries and the linguistic truth’. This is a direct result of the ‘frequent discrepancy between lexemes viewed in insolation and their usage as words in context’ (Hornby). The problem of equivalence is also addressed with the author promoting the use of conceptual analysis to determine degrees of equivalence. The inclusion in law dictionaries of labels, usage notes, examples, selectional restrictions, information on jurisdiction and on geographical scope is encouraged.