I certainly wouldn't say it's entirely hands off, because of the subjective contingencies lying within the rules as you have pointed out. To me, it certainly seems more decentralized than the old system, but I agree there is progress to be made.
TEC, do you believe the system would be better without the option for these judgement calls from staff (Or DT)? Genuinely curious to hear your thoughts, and anyone else on this. It's difficult to delegate responsibility in a decentralized manner without ruining whatever that responsibility is there to maintain.
At the end of the day the forum is Theymos's personal property, even if he and the community largely see it as something he is entrusted with on behalf of the community. The question is not if they will be able to interfere, ofc they will be able. I don't think they will need or want to for the vast majority of instances.
We already uphold certain standards for what is not acceptable to rate people for without staff intervention. Any disputes or judgement calls would be handled by community analysis and judgement in public as it always has been. This can be done with ratings, trust lists, and general ostracism.
The problem is no one except Theymos will ever be able to get such a standard of evidence of theft, violation of contractual agreement, or violation of applicable laws in to effect, because it goes against the interest of those already in control of the system. He doesn't need to personally nit pick every case, or really any, but by setting a comparatively very objective standard for leaving a negative rating the VAST majority of conflict is simply avoided.
There will be no hindrance of stopping scammers, but in fact it will be easier to spot them as they don't blend in in a sea of red. Also people will feel more comfortable contributing to a community where they don't have to worry about everything being taken away over some petty squabble at any instant.