The publication includes the official text of the Basic Law of the USSR and translations of the official texts of the basic laws of other socialist states. The first volume opens with an introductory article on the general trends in the development of socialist constitutionalism, the experience of using all the best that world socialism has accumulated in this area. Each constitution is preceded by an introductory article, which characterizes the constitutional development of the corresponding socialist country and an analysis of its current Constitution. The first volume included the Constitutions of the USSR, NSRA, NRB, VNR, SRV, GDR, PRC, DPRK.