(1)A person does not commit an offence under section 1(1) by participating in an excepted activity.
(2)For the purposes of subsection (1), an “excepted activity” is an activity excepted under any provision of this Act, and such other activity as the Scottish Ministers may, by order made by statutory instrument, specify.
(3)No order is to be made under subsection (2) unless it has been laid in draft before, and approved by resolution of, the Scottish Parliament.
(4)Before laying a draft order before the Parliament under subsection (3), the Scottish Ministers must—
(a)lay the proposed draft order before the Parliament and make it publicly available for consultation for a period (“the consultation period”) of at least 12 weeks;
(b)during the consultation period, consult such persons and bodies as they consider likely to be affected by, or otherwise to have an interest in, the proposed draft order; and
(c)take into account any comments on the proposed draft order expressed during the consultation period and make such changes to the draft order as they consider appropriate.