Abstract Legislative language has a core position in the language of the law. Non-normative expression and translation of legislative language imperils the quality of legislation and are detrimental to shaping international image of China regarding its rule of law. An investigation on the status quo of the normalization of legislative language and translation reveals that though China has come to noticeable fruition by enacting the Legislation Law of the People’s Republic of China and Tentative Drafting Guidelines, more efforts are needed with regard to the systematization and institutionalization of language norms. In terms of the translation of legislative texts, there are only a few general principles put forward by scholars but no regulatory guidance containing applicable rules. The main reason for this situation is that the academic community has long neglected education and research related to legislative language, and the legislature has also belittled the position of language in the drafting of law. Norm-building experience outside Chinese Mainland are useful references for normalizing Chinese legislative language and its translation. By examining the legislative technical specifications in other countries or regions, this paper puts forward feasible suggestions that a more comprehensive normative system of legislative language should be established, a standardized multilingual terminology database be built, and the mechanisms for reviewing both legislative language and its translation be strengthened.