The paper investigates the effects of the great developments that have taken place in the last few decades in specialised domains as a consequence of a continuous process of economic globalisation. This globalising trend has not only raised important socio-cultural, business and communication issues, but has also affected the legal field, where an international perspective is becoming more and more widespread. However, in spite of the growing efforts of the international community to guarantee greater and greater harmonization in legislation and procedures, local constraints and specific cultural aspects still represent a relevant conditioning factor. This is clearly visible in the normative texts in use in the various contexts which show discrepancies deriving not only from differing legal and cultural systems, but also from the use of different linguistic codes. This is due to the fact that nowadays many of the texts in use at a local level are the result of a process of translation or adaptation of more general documents formulated at an international level.