The article deals with the phenomenon of "soft law" and its specificity on the example of regulation of relations in such areas of law as environmental protection and sports law. Both of these areas are quite young and have been formed thanks to the rules of "soft law", but in the first case the regulation of public international law prevails, while in the second case international private law is added. The article also analyzes the work of foreign authors on the problem of determining the place and essence of the norms of "soft law".