Since coming under full communist control in December 1947, Romania has had three constitutions. The first, designating the country a "People's Republic," was adopted by the Grand National Assembly in April 1948, just four weeks after the assembly had been reorganized under new communist leadership. The second, officially adopted in September 1952, had first been made public the preceding July after Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej had assumed the post of prime minister in addition to his position as head of the party. A third constitution, incorporating the elements of Romania's changed social and ideological position, entered into force on August 20, 1965.
In many ways similar to the initial constitutions of the other Soviet-dominated states of Eastern Europe, the 1948 Constitution was designed to mark Romania's entry into the first stage of the transition from capitalism to socialism. As a people's democracy, state power was said to derive from the people as expressed through the Grand National Assembly, nominally, the supreme organ of state power. A nineteen-member Presidium was elected by and from the membership of the assembly to provide continuity of legislative authority when the assembly itself was not in session. The highest executive and administrative organ was the Council of Ministers, which functioned under the direction of the prime minister. Although it was not mentioned in the constitution, the Communist Party functioned as the supreme decisionmaking authority over and above that of the government.
The right of ownership of private property was guaranteed, although the constitution provided that privately held means of production, banks, and insurance companies could be nationalized when the "general interest" so required. Less than two months after the adoption of the constitution, the Grand National Assembly applied this "general interest" principle and nationalized all banking, industrial, insurance, mining, and transportation enterprises.
Described in the constitution in anticipation of their actual establishment, the organs of state power in the regions, counties, districts, and communes were designated "people's councils." Formally established by law in 1949, these bodies were organized into a centralized system in which the lower level councils were fully subordinated to the next higher council and all functioned under the direct control of the central organs of government.
Changes that were effected in the political, social, and economic structure of the country after 1948 were incorporated into a new constitution in 1952. Patterned largely after the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, the 1952 document specifically designated the Romanian Workers' Party (title of the Communist Party between 1948 and 1965) as the representative of the working class and the country's leading political force. The nation's close ties with the Soviet Union were strongly emphasized. Several references to the Soviet Union glorified its role in the liberation of the country from fascism during World War II and described the Soviets as great friends of the Romanian people. Whereas the 1948 Constitution declared that "the Romanian People's Republic was born amid the struggle conducted by the people, under the leadership of the working class, against fascism, reaction, and imperialism," that of 1952 asserted the republic "was born and consolidated following the liberation of the country by the armed forces of the Soviet Union."
As did the 1948 Constitution, that of 1952 guaranteed full equality to the country's national minority groups, but the 1952 Constitution also established an autonomous administrative unit, the Hungarian Autonomous Region (Mures-Magyar), for the large Hungarian population. The region was given its own people's council and local authorities, although these were clearly subordinated to the organs of the central government. Including the Hungarian Autonomous Region, the country was administered through twenty regional units that, in turn, were subdivided into districts, towns, and rural localities.
Citizens were guaranteed the right to work for remuneration; the right to rest, assured by the establishment of the eight-hour workday and paid annual vacations for workers and office employees; the right to material security when old, ill, or disabled; and the right to education. Full equality in all aspects of economic, political, and cultural life was guaranteed to all working people regardless of nationality, race, or sex.
Freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and public demonstration were likewise assured, as was freedom of religion. Churches, however, were forbidden to operate schools except for the training of religious personnel. Other rights guaranteed the protection of the person from arbitrary arrest, the inviolability of the home, and the secrecy of the mail. The right of citizens to form public and private organizations was also assured, although associations having a "fascist or anti-democratic character" were prohibited.
Citizen duties to the state included the observance of the constitution and the laws of the republic and the obligation to preserve and develop socialist property, to practice discipline in regard to work, and to work in general for the strengthening of the "regime of people's democracy." Military service and the defense of the nation were described as duties of honor for all citizens.
In March 1961 the Grand National Assembly established a commission to prepare a new draft constitution. At the same time the 1952 Constitution was revised to transform the Presidium of the assembly into the Council of State. The new council, vested with supreme executive authority, consisted of a president, three vice presidents, and thirteen members. As was the case with the Presidium, the Council of State was elected by and from the assembly membership and was, in theory at least, responsible to it.