Latest development: Fijian lawyer Deepesh Singh has finished fourth in the European Master of Laws and Economics (EMLE) programme, becoming the first person from Fiji to complete the highly competitive interdisciplinary course and earning a distinction that places him in the top 10 percent of his cohort. Singh was one of 67 candidates selected for the programme from a pool of 928 applicants, a selection rate that underlines the programme’s competitiveness and the scale of his achievement.
The EMLE is delivered across multiple European universities and is designed to immerse students in different legal systems, economic frameworks and academic environments. Singh said the course’s diversity — he encountered classmates from more than 30 nationalities — required constant academic and social adjustment. “To be completely honest, it did not feel real and in some ways, it still does not,” he said, reflecting on the moment he learned his final ranking.
Singh’s path to the programme was not straightforward. He came from a commerce background in high school and initially pursued economics and accounting before deliberately shifting into law as a challenge. His subsequent experience in legal practice revealed frequent overlaps between legal work and economic reasoning. “As I moved through legal practice, I realised that I was adding a lot more value in work which had strong economic or accounting elements. This piqued my interest in pursuing the interdisciplinary field of law and economics,” Singh said.
That practical perspective set him apart from many classmates, several of whom entered the EMLE with one or more postgraduate degrees. Singh said his on-the-job experience — dealing with clients, legal consequences and real situations — allowed him to apply theoretical principles in a realistic, practice-oriented way. He described the programme’s cross-border analysis of how and why different countries approach legal and economic issues as particularly valuable for developing comparative and applied solutions.
Singh also emphasised the study strategies that helped him excel: structured, intentional learning and a disciplined approach to time management. “When I studied, I made sure I was fully engaged or focused on understanding the material rather than just going through it,” he said. He framed the autonomy offered by the programme as a privilege that carried a matching obligation: “Autonomy comes with an equal level of accountability.”
Beyond personal success, Singh said his achievement carries national significance. Recognising he is the first Fijian to complete the EMLE, he said the milestone strengthened his resolve to help fill an “expertise gap” in Fiji by translating what he has learned into policy, practice and development work at home. He credited professors, peers and mentors across Europe for broadening his analytical lens and said he returns with a clearer purpose to merge legal practice and economic insight in service of Fiji’s development.
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