Public procurator  A public procurator is an officer of a state charged with both the investigation and prosecution of crime. The office is a feature of a civil law inquisitorial rather than common law adversarial system. Japan uses a procuratorial system, in addition to countries such as China, Russia and Indonesia. The office of a procurator is called a procuracy or procuratorate. The terms are from Latin and originate with the procurators of the Roman Empire.