The article considers the issues of nature, role, and significance of competition law, its conformity to the principle of freedom of entrepreneurship from a standpoint of liberal and institutional social doctrines. It argues in favor of representatives of liberal social doctrine. The author mentions institutional and liberal approaches to the question of whether competition law protects or regulates competition. Preference is given to a liberal one that is based on the economic interest of a competitor itself and gives him an opportunity to directly protect in court his absolute right to freedom of market actions. In the author’s opinion, the task of the state is to safeguard the relations arising in a free market environment and under law, but not to regulate them.