It was modelled on the 1936 Soviet Constitution and adopted by the Great National Assembly (MAN) on 13 April 1948, being published in Monitorul Oficial the same day.

[1] It proclaimed the principle of the sovereignty of the people, who "exercises its power through representative organs, elected by universal, equal, direct and secret vote".

In a first for a constitutional act in Romania, provisions were introduced dealing with the socio-economic structure of society, indicating the existence of three categories of property: state-owned ("as goods of the entire citizenry"), cooperative and private.

In reality, all the rights proclaimed by the constitution were systematically and severely violated in the first years of the Communist regime, which saw the start of repression unprecedented in Romanian history.

The subordination of the judicial system to the Communist authorities was provided for, inter alia, by granting the prosecutor’s office the role of punishing "crimes against the democratic order and liberty, the economic interests, the national independence and the sovereignty of the Romanian State".