UPDATE 2-U.S. top court lets apartheid claims proceed

(Adds reaction, details, paragraphs 10-11, 14-17)

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for lawsuits to go forward by apartheid victims seeking damages exceeding $400 billion from more than 50 major corporations.

With four justices recused from the case and therefore lacking a quorum, the high court issued a brief order simply affirming a ruling by a U.S. appeals court in New York. The appeals court had reinstated the lawsuits by the plaintiffs, who claim the companies violated international law by assisting the apartheid system in South Africa.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito did not take part in the case, apparently because they own stock in some of the companies.

Because they did not participate, the Supreme Court said it lacked a quorum, which requires at least six of its nine members. The affirming of the lower-court ruling allows the lawsuits to proceed, but does not represent a decision by the justices on the merits of the dispute.

A majority of the justices who considered the case said it could not be heard and determined in the court's next term because of the lack of a quorum, which happens rarely.

The corporations named in the lawsuits included oil companies such as BP Plc (BP.L) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), banks such as Citigroup (C.N), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) and UBS AG (UBSN.VX), as well as other multinationals like IBM (IBM.N), General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N).

The U.S. and foreign corporations appealed to the Supreme Court. The Bush administration and business groups supported the appeal.