The move, announced by Attorney-General Simon Corbell on Thursday, follows a ruling by the ACT Supreme Court that identified flaws with the government's laws earlier this year.

The problems were identified in the wake of the inquiry into David Eastman's conviction for the 1989 murder of Assistant Federal Police Commissioner Colin Stanley Winchester.

The Eastman inquiry made the shock recommendation to quash the prisoner's conviction, following 19 years spent behind bars.

The inquiry's report was handed to a full bench of the ACT Supreme Court, who were ultimately responsible for deciding whether to quash Eastman's conviction, quash it and order a re-trial, or maintain the conviction.

The territory's laws, as they stood, restricted how the court could act.

It barred the court from using anything other than the inquiry's report - which strongly called for a straight quashing of Eastman's conviction - to make its decision.

That meant no further submissions could be made to the court about what it should do.

That law was challenged by the Director of Public Prosecutions, who sought a final opportunity to present submissions on Eastman's fate to the Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the DPP and Commonwealth argued the ACT's legislation contradicted procedural fairness and was inconsistent with the constitution, which guaranteed the independence of the courts.

That challenge was successful, and the court found the DPP had the right to present further arguments before a decision was made on Eastman's conviction.

Now, Mr Corbell has permanently changed the laws governing inquiries into convictions to make sure that situation is not repeated.

The new amendments, he said, would immediately remove any confusion.

They will allow submissions to be heard before the Supreme Court makes a decision about the quashing of a conviction.

The changes also make it clear that the process of considering an inquiry's report is a judicial one.

The amendments will commence as soon as they are tabled in the Legislative Assembly.