If your choices are:
A) The Church had great political influence in every country.
B) The Church could authorize severe punishment if necessary.
C) The Church had its own court system, which decided on appropriate punishment.
D) The Church had the power to banish a person from the religious community if it so desired.
Canon law is considered to be an inquisitorial legal system wherein the judges of cases are involved in finding facts, investigating, and questioning witnesses. It is the opposite of adversarial legal systems where judges are impartial observers during trials. Because of this, judges in canon law trials could impose severe punishments they deem appropriate.
The best answer for the question is "B) The Church could authorize severe punishment if necessary."
