Section 696.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada gives the Federal Minister of Justice the power to review a conviction under Federal law to determine whether there may have been a miscarriage of justice or wrongful conviction. If the review indicates that a wrongful conviction occurred, the Minister of Justice has the authority to order a new trial or refer the matter to the Court of Appeal for the province or territory in question. The review process consists of four stages: (1) preliminary assessment, (2) investigation, (3) completion of investigative report, and (4) review of application by the Minister of Justice. There have been criticisms of the review process with a suggestion to replace the Criminal Conviction Review Group of the Department of Justice with an independent review body. The article discusses some new legislative and non-legislative initiatives addressing the concerns and criticisms of the criminal conviction review process. Two specific criticisms of the process discussed include: (1) the review process is accused of being conducted in secret, thereby lacking transparency and (2) the review process lacks independence with one government department reviewing another government department, thereby causing a conflict of interest. Recently amended, the criminal conviction review process now includes a role for a Special Advisor to the Minister who is appointed from outside the Department of Justice. The Special Advisor oversees every aspect of the review procedure.