Short answer. Six elements: the accused's name, the statutory designation of the offense, the acts or omissions constituting it, the offended party's name, the approximate date of commission, and the place where it was committed. Where more than one person committed the offense, all must be included.
What the law says
A complaint or information is sufficient if it states the name of the accused; the designation of the offense given by the statute; the acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense; the name of the offended party; the approximate date of the commission of the offense; and the place where the offense was committed.
Rule 110, Section 6 — Sufficiency of complaint or information. Read the full provision →
Identifying who is charged and what offense they face
The first two required elements identify the parties and the legal label of the charge: the name of the accused and the designation of the offense given by the statute. Without both, the accused would not know precisely who is being charged or under what statutory offense they must prepare to defend themselves against.
These two elements alone do not make a charge complete, but they are the starting point every sufficient complaint or information has to establish before any of the other required elements can meaningfully follow in a coherent and legally defensible charge against them.
Describing the conduct and identifying the victim
The charge also has to describe what actually happened: the acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense, and the name of the offended party. This is the substantive core of the charge — a bare statement of the offense's legal name, without describing the conduct alleged, would not tell the accused what they are actually accused of having done to whom.
Fixing when and where the offense occurred
The remaining elements anchor the charge in time and place: the approximate date of the commission of the offense, and the place where the offense was committed. These need only be approximate for the date, but both details matter for the accused to understand and respond to the specific incident being charged, and for determining matters like venue and prescription that turn on when and where the offense actually took place.
All participants must be named when more than one is involved
The rule adds a separate requirement for group offenses: when an offense is committed by more than one person, all of them shall be included in the complaint or information. A charge that leaves out a known participant in a jointly committed offense does not meet this requirement, even if it otherwise states every other required element correctly and completely.