清代刑部是「天下刑名之總匯」，權責甚重。部內滿漢官并設，滿漢關系對刑部的政務運作有著重要影響。有清二百多年，各階段的刑部滿漢關系表現不盡相同。清初，部內滿漢之間矛盾較多，交流不暢，刑部采取的是滿漢分治的管理方式。雍正及乾隆中前期，刑部滿漢雙方語言隔閡消除，但漢官辦理庶政，滿官決策大案的基本模式仍然延續。乾隆后期及嘉慶、道光年間，刑部滿漢官權力相對均衡，在打破了"漢人不辦滿事"舊例的同時，所謂漢官辦庶務、滿官決大事的界限也逐漸模糊起來。晚清滿漢堂官之間幾無畛域，所有堂宮唯律例最精的漢堂官馬首是瞻，是為「因其人而生權力」。

The relationship between Manchu officers and Han officers, which had different performance in different stage, played an important role in the operation of political affairs of the Ministry of Penalty in the Qing dynasty. In the early Qing dynasty, the management strategy taken by the Ministry of Penalty was that Han officers dealt with the Han affairs and the Manchu officers dealt with Manchu affairs. During the period of Yongzheng and the early and middle period of Qianlong, the misunderstanding caused by the Manchu and Han language was eliminated gradually. However, the mode that Han officers dealt with the concrete affairs and the Manchu officers decided the major cases was basically continued. During the late period of Qianlong, and the period of Jiaqing and Daoguang, the power of the Manchu officers and Han officers in the Ministry of Penalty was relatively balanced, and the boundary gradually became vague. During the late Qing dynasty, there was no boundary between Manchu officers and Han officers. All of the officers in the Ministry of Penalty only followed the head of the Han officers who possessed extraordinary skills in the laws and regulations.