Judge Advocate
On 5 October 2005, Leung was named Judge Advocate of a court martial panel to retry 20 soldiers convicted of mutiny in relation to the Fiji coup of 2000. He was the only civilian member of the 10-member panel. On 19 October, however, he was abruptly dismissed by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, but was subsequently reinstated on 26 October. The reasons for the dismissal and reinstatement were not fully clarified, but it was understood that the President had wanted to explore the matter thoroughly before ratifying Leung, the choice of the Military, as Judge Advocate. The trial was subsequently rescheduled, and adjourned, several times.
When the Military Commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, raised questions about why the commissioning process was taking so long, Home Affairs Minister Josefa Vosanibola revealed on 21 December that the government objected to what he said were Leung's exorbitant fees. "Even the Chief Justice ... (does) not get that kind of money," he said of the proposed F$130,000 contract. Commodore Bainimarama disagreed, saying that the same sum had been paid to the previous Judge Advocate.
On 4 January 2006, Home Affairs Minister Vosanibola announced that Leung had been approved as Judge Advocate, and commissioned as an Army officer, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The delay had been caused by the need to gain further information from the Military, he claimed, but Military spokesman Captain Neumi Leweni denied this.
Speaking to the media on 10 January 2005, clarified that he would not be receiving the F$130,000 remuneration as a lump sum. That was his annual remuneration, he said; the monthly remuneration amounted to one twelfth of that - considerably less than what he would be paid by private clients, whose custom he had to forego for the sake of the court martial. Leung said he accepted the role of Judge Advocate after many others had declined it, because he felt strongly about the rule of law and the concept of justice.
He was a vocal critic of Fiji's latest coup which took place in December 2006 and embarked on extensive speaking engagements internationally including countries like Kenya, Jamaica, Malaysia and Hong Kong, lamenting the undermining of the rule of law and democratic governance in Fiji. As a result of his stand against military rule, he was temporarily banned from leaving Fiji. The ban was lifted following his mounting of a High Court challenge. Following his departure from private practice in 2009, Graham lectured briefly at the University of the South Pacific in Suva. In December 2009, he undertook a consultancy with the Rome based International Development Law Organization where he worked in Kenya, helping to support the work of that country's Committee of Experts which had been tasked to draft its new Constitution. Following that assignment, he was involved in the training of judges and lawyers in international human rights law with the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team. In July 2011, he was appointed as the new Director of the Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
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