The payment of compensation to the families of victims is a widespread practice by defendants to avoid execution (see Chapter 6). ‘Paying compensation to save one’s life’ has prompted much scholarly and public debate with many legal academics and members of the public, alike, uncomfortable with the inequitable nature of the practice. While compensation arrangements seem to have contributed to a decline in the number of executions, the payments are likely to increase the disproportionate impact of the death penalty on the poorest. Limited data from China indicate that the poor and poorly educated are over represented among those facing the death penalty. In a limited sample of 281 defendants in death penalty cases, 54% were villagers, 21% were unemployed and 15% were migrant workers. Eighty-eight percent of those executed had a junior middle school or lower level of education. Chinese law has no equality legislation that would allow lawyers to challenge discrimination in the use of the death penalty. 26