A Canberra woman convicted of murdering her former friend has had her appeal against the verdict dismissed.

In 2011, a jury found Rebecca Anne Massey guilty of murdering Elizabeth Booshand with a knife at the Charnwood Shops in 2008.

Massey admitted stabbing the woman but said she acted in self-defence and never meant to kill her.

Massey was the first person convicted of murder by an ACT court jury in a decade.

She was sentenced to 16 years jail with 10 years non-parole.

Massey's barrister, Jack Pappas, had challenged the instructions given to the jury by the trial judge, particularly in relation to whether Massey had acted in self-defence.

But today three justices of the ACT Court of Appeal decided against Massey and dismissed her appeal.

Massey will remain in jail until at least 2020.