BEIJING -- The top legislature is considering tougher sentences for assaults on police officers on duty during the bimonthly legislative session that started Monday.

The draft amendments to the Criminal Law also clarify the crime of contempt of court.

According to the current law, lawyers can be disbarred if they are convicted of disrupting or interfering with due proceedings or inciting others to raise trouble.

Nine lawyers were recently taken under coercive measures, after they used Beijing Fengrui law firm as a platform to provoke trouble and disturb social order.