國民革命軍北伐前夕,由于經濟窘境和政治高壓等原因,北方頗顯頹氣,包括司法人員在內的公職人員自北南行者不少。北伐戰爭期間及其后,北方法律官僚王寵惠、羅文干等人進入國民黨高層,在講求法律專業知識、注重司法實踐經驗的選任標準下,相互推介援引,北京政府司法官員大量進入南京政府,出現"革命軍北伐、司法官南伐"現象。這既與國民黨的人才接收政策、司法缺少班底有關,也與當時正在形成的法律職業共同體及"司法不黨"理念有關,還有一定的國際背景。政權鼎革中司法人事延續,有利于承續北京政府司法基礎,實現國家司法運轉的平穩過渡,但對國民黨而言,也帶來很多問題。這些司法人員與國民黨并無淵源,對國民黨理念與統治方式未必認同,"反黨"現象頻發;以北京政府司法官員為班底的南京政府司法系統,無法成為國民黨政治斗爭的有力工具。1927年前后南北政權鼎革與司法人員流動,不僅可窺見兩個敵對政權之間的人事關聯,亦隱見國民黨政權實乃一個龐雜的混合體。

Due to the economic crunch and political repression at the eve of the North Expedition by the National Revolutionary Army,numerous judicial officers headed for the South voluntarily from the lackluster North China. Both during and after the North Expedition,prominent judicial officers from the North like Wang Chonghui and Luo Wengan joined the ranks of the higher echelon of the Kuomintang. Under the criteria of legal knowledge and legal practice,these judicial officers from the North supported each other and joined the Nanjing Government in droves. On the one hand,such a development was closely related to the KMT’s talent policies and the shortage of legal personnel in the South. On the other hand,it also had something to do with the burgeoning community of law practitioners and the internationally popular idea of “separating the judiciary from political parties”. Maintaining the personnel stability in the judicial system during the government reform was conducive to ensuring the smooth functioning of the judiciary under the new government. For the KMT,however,this also engendered many problems. These judicial officers were not affiliated with the KMT and they may distance themselves from the ideas and governing strategies of the KMT. Some of them even publicly demonstrated their opposition to the KMT. The judicial system of the Nanjing Government,with most of its personnel coming from judicial officers of the North,was not an effective instrument for the KMT to engage in political struggles. Government reforms and the flow of judicial officers around1927 shed light on the personnel linkages between the two hostile regimes at the time. It was also indicative of the fact that the KMT regime was nothing but a gigantic mishmash.