The Associated Press

Mon, May 12, 2008 (7:17 a.m.)

The Supreme Court says it can't intervene in an important dispute over the rights of apartheid victims to sue U.S. corporations in U.S. courts because four of the nine justices had to sit out the case over apparent conflicts.

The result is that a lawsuit will proceed that accuses some of the most prominent companies of violating international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government.

The court's hands were tied by federal laws that require at least six justices to hear any case before them.

Short of the required number by one, the court took the only path available to it and on Monday upheld an appeals court ruling allowing the suit to go forward.