Languages, law and territories form one inseparable whole, which has to be taken as such by legal translation. Languages and law present at once unity and plurality, equality and hierarchy, according to the angle of vision. A case in point is “translation unbound by territory,” i.e., vertical translation in the institutional context of negotiated international or regional law. Translation equivalence is then established in order to achieve uniform interpretation of one unique law expressed in various linguistic versions. The European Union is paradigmatic of such a case. At the opposite, “territory-bound translation” entails horizontal translation realized in various legal contexts. It may serve various purposes, among which knowledge of the other law or recognition of the right of others, or even the administration of justice, and exhibits marked cultural characteristics. Translation equivalence is then subject to the local factor since it has to take the original culture into account. Faced with the risk of communication failure, the translator must be wary of acting as if his/her legal system were universal. However, can he/she prevent the search for translation equivalence to be guided by linguistic, legal and territorial imperialism?